Inside the Film Room: New York Jets’ Running Back Chris Ivory

Nov 3, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets running back Chris Ivory (33) scores a touchdown past New Orleans Saints outside linebacker David Hawthorne (57) in the first half during the game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Time to go inside the film room as we do each week. With it being the bye week, we can take a little bit more time. Instead of looking at key plays this time, we are looking at a breakout performance. Specifically, Chris Ivory’s breakout performance against his former team, the New Orleans Saints.

Chris had a slow start to the 2013 season, thanks to a hamstring injury. Well, he is healthy now, and running like we all hoped that he would. He compiled 139 yards on 18 carries last week, including one touchdown. Like I always say about him when he is going well, he ran like he was mad at the turf.

We are going to look at two of his runs from the other day, one to the right, and one to the left. The one to the right comes first, from the first quarter:

Geno lines up in the shotgun, Chris Ivory lined up to his left, Bilal Powell lined up behind him. Smith is going to run a play in a “pistol-like” position, taking the snap and giving the ball to Ivory coming left to right. Howard is going to block down to his right. Willie Colon is going to block the incoming linebacker, and Mangold is going to block to his left. Look at the hole that becomes the result.

Great work by the offensive line here. You could drive a truck through the hole that the line has opened for Ivory. He just has to make the one man miss that is in the hole, as one other guy will come free far too late.

Look at how fast Chris has blown past those two guys. This is where I get my saying about how he runs like he is mad at the turf. The result?

27 yards down the field, first down New York Jets, and Ivory is off for his big day.

Take a look at a run from the fourth quarter on the next page.

This time, Chris Ivory is the single running back lined up to the right of Geno Smith. Smith is going to take the snap and give it to Ivory again, and send him around left end. The key blocks are going to be made by Zach Sudfeld blocking down on his man, and Willie Colon, pulling to make the lead block at the point of attack.

Again, watch how it unfolds.

You might not think this is a lot of room here on the edge. But watch how quickly Chris gets to the spot, again running like he is mad at the turf.

These little blocks on the edge are all Chris Ivory needs. When he gets a head of steam, he is as fast as anyone, especially for his size. He hits the edge hard, Stephen Hill makes a nice block downfield. The result?

An eleven yard pickup, and another first down for the Jets, along the way to Chris Ivory’s big day.

The moral of the story is a simple one. When you get Chris Ivory rolling, it doesn’t take a lot of room to get him a head of steam. When you do that, watch out. He will run around you. He will run through you. He will do both. Whatever he does, it could take a lot of the burden off of Geno Smith.